Today is Safer Internet Day, which is organised in February of each year to promote the safe and responsible use of online technology and mobile phones by children and young people. In conjunction with Safer Internet Day, Avon & Somerset Police are organising an online safety webchat tomorrow, 12th February, from 7.00 pm to 8.30 […]
Bristol University seems to be doing a fair bit at present on cyber security matters. Following on from last week’s research contributions to an EU cyber security attacks white paper (news passim), the university has now advised the European Union’s Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) on how to protect the personal data of millions […]
Increasing numbers of recent security incidents against industrial control systems raise questions about the ability of many organisations to respond to cyber-security attacks. Researchers from Bristol University’s Cryptography Group and the Safety Systems Research Centre have contributed to an EU paper on the resilience of critical information infrastructures. The white paper, entitled “Can we learn […]
Earlier this week the Prime Minister was making a lot of noise in the press and elsewhere about filtering the internet (under the dubious cover of protecting children. Ed.). His pronouncements have been met with almost universal condemnation from anyone with a bit of technical knowledge, as well as those concerned with online freedom, including […]
In an article published yesterday, The Guardian describes how Microsoft is actively cooperating with the USA’s NSA. According to the article, Microsoft is providing the NSA with broad access to the communications of anyone using the company’s services, as follows: Microsoft gives the NSA access to encrypted mails on Hotmail, Live.com and Outlook.com, as well […]
Following recent revelations about massive extent of telecommunications and internet traffic surveillance carried on by the USA’s NSA and the UK’s GCHQ (news passim), revelations have now emerged in Le Monde, one of France’s leading national newspapers. In a post today entitled “Revelations about the French Big Brother”, Le Monde reveals that France has a […]
Have you ever heard of Socmint? No? Neither had we until reading a report posted yesterday on Wired.co.uk. Socmint is an abbreviation of Social Media Intelligence and is a unit within the Metropolitan Police that has been conducting blanket surveillance of British citizens’ public social media conversations for the past 2 years. During this time […]
As an organisation, Bristol Wireless has been closely involved in campaigning against the UK government’s plans for mass communications surveillance under the Communications Data Bill, also known as the “Snooper’s Charter” by its opponents (news passim). It now appears that all this work might have been in vain. Amongst the revelations that have come to […]
In the midst of all the recent revelations about the US National Security Agency’s Prism surveillance programme and GCHQ’s Tempora snooping on telecommunications and internet traffic, comes a small but welcome bit of good news. the Sydney Morning Herald reports that a controversial Australian government data retention scheme that would have required Australians’ internet and […]
The Guardian reports exclusively today that Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo! and Twitter have dismissed the UK government’s Communications Data Bill (aka the Snooper’s Charter. Ed.) and its plans to track the email, internet and social media of everyone in the UK as “expensive to implement and highly contentious”. The revelation comes from a letter dated […]
Some time ago we drew attention to the possible eavesdropping problems in using Skype, which is now owned by Microsoft (news passim). This has now been confirmed by German technology news website, Heise. Anyone who uses Skype, has agreed that Skype may also read too. Heise Security has found out that Microsoft actually avails itself […]
Yesterday the world witnessed an annual bit of Ruritanian pantomime that passes for the unwritten British constitution in action: the state opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Speech. According to a report in today’s Guardian, it would appear that the so-called Snooper’s Charter (news passim) is proving harder to kill than a particularly stubborn vampire. […]
If one believes the words of politicians, the Snooper’s Charter (news passim) is dead. Earlier this morning Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg appeared on a phone-in programme on London radio station LBC. When questioned by a caller on the Communications Data Bill (aka the Snooper’s Charter), he is reported to have answered: What people dub […]
Today the Open Rights Group, Big Brother Watch and https://www.privacyinternational.org/ sent an open letter to the UK’s major ISPs – BT, Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk – and others, asking them to stand up for their customers against the excessive surveillance of UK citizens proposed under the government’s illiberal Communications Data Bill (news passim). We reproduce […]
The pressure is continuing to mount on the UK government’s proposals to monitor all of the UK’s internet and telecommunications usage and store users’ communications data under Home Secretary Theresa May’s proposed Communications Data Bill, also know as the Snooper’s Charter. On Saturday, the Daily Telegraph reported that the Home Office is facing legal action […]
Ben Hammersley, an adviser to 10 Downing Street on the Tech City (aka Silicon Roundabout. Ed.) project, has emerged as the latest critic of the government’s proposed Communciations Data Bill or Snooper’s Charter (news passim). Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Hammersley is quoted today as saying: As a society, it would be stupid to build […]
Even before the Home Office has even finished consulting on the revised version the Communications Data Bill (news passim), let alone redrafted the Bill, it seems that the associated mission creep long predicted by its opponents has already begun. Saturday’s Daily Telegraph carried a report entitled “Town halls join rush to use the snoopers’ charter”, […]
Regular readers will realise that Bristol Wireless has grave concerns about the Communications Data Bill, otherwise known as the Snooper’s Charter (news passim). As an organisation we contacted the Home Office urging for proper consultation on the Bill, which is currently being redrafted. However, it now appears that the Home Office is not interested in […]
Microsoft will be discontinuing its Windows/MSN Messenger service on 8th April and all current users will be switched to Skype. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is advising all Windows Messenger users to take this as an opportunity to embrace open standards such as XMMP (formerly known as Jabber) instead of switching to Skype. “Crucial […]
If you run a Linux system using the RPM-based package management system, you might like to give your system a security check following news from the Internet Storm Center (ISC) of a SSHD rootkit affecting such distributions. To quote from the ISC article: The rootkit is actually a trojanized library that links with SSHD and […]